Bone Abstracts

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) bone is affected by erosions, periarticular- and generalised osteoporosis, the latter leading to increased risk of both vertebral and non-vertebral fractures. A twofold increase in osteoporosis has been found in the RA population compared with healthy controls. In the RA population the relative risk of hip fracture has been reported to be up to five times higher and vertebral fractures up to three times higher than controls. Osteoporotic fractures ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease that usually affects women during the childbearing ages. The disease can affect any organ system and varies in its clinical manifestations and severity between individuals. The disease course is characterized by relapses and remissions.Because survival of SLE patients has improved dramatically over the last decades, attention is now more focused on complications of the disease...

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease, characterized by axial pain and osteoproliferation, leading to painful rigidity of the spine and disability. In contrast with this bone formation, bone loss is an early event in this disease, and an increased vertebral fracture risk (but not non-vertebral fracture risk) has been reported in these patients.Prospective studies have shown that potent anti-inflammatory drugs, such as anti-TN...

Inflammatory joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as other rheumatic conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis and systemic lupus erythematosus, comprise a heterogeneous group of joint disorders that are all associated with extra-articular side effects, including bone involvement. Disease activity, immobility and treatment with (high dose) glucocorticoids are the main factors that increase the risk of osteoporotic fractures, on top of the background fracture ...

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Compliance with prescribed drugs is poor in most chronic conditions and osteoporosis is no exception. Compliance integrates the concepts adherence (how much drug is taken) and persistence (for how long) and also if the patient follow the instructions for a correct use of the medication. Between 50 and 75% of patients initiating antiosteoporosis drugs are not taken the treatment 1 year later. Obviously, this problem significantly decreases the effect of drugs. A smaller increas...

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Experimental studies in animals indicate that particular maternal exposures during pregnancy can have specific effects on body composition in the offspring, with long-term implications for subsequent metabolic phenotype and cardiovascular risk. In animals the environment during early life induces altered phenotypes in ways which are influenced or mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, but until recently there has been little direct evidence in humans and understanding of which dev...